SP No. 4449 to lead 60 Holiday Express excursions this fall

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Former Southern Pacific GS-4 4-8-4 No. 4449 shown on the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation website. The famed steam locomotive will pull more than 60 separate excursions before Christmas this year.

Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation website

PORTLAND, Ore. — Southern Pacific 4-8-4 No. 4449 will be fired up this week to lead the first of more than five dozen Holiday Express trips over the next month. The annual excursions organized by the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation operate on the Oregon Pacific’s route along Portland’s Oaks Park.

SP No. 4449 caretaker Doyle McCormack tells Trains News Wire that the locomotive — built by Lima in 1941 — will be fired up on Tuesday or Wednesday in time for the first runs on Friday. The locomotive will lead at least eight trips a day every Saturday and Sunday until Dec. 18, with the exception of the first weekend when trips will only be run on Friday, Nov. 25, and Saturday, Nov. 26.